Pearl (Jewels Cafe Book 8)

by Tabitha Barret

  Watching his shoulders round and his arms pull behind his back, a different side of Carson appeared before my eyes. Instead of the jokester who said stupid things to get attention, he was a heartbroken boy.

  He twisted his foot and looked away. “Those things that you accused me of doing before, they weren’t true. I didn’t correct you because I figured that you would never believe me. You have a hard time trusting people and I don’t blame you. I knew it would take a grand gesture to prove that I cared about you. That’s why I was relieved to see that you were at the other end of the love spell.” He smiled shyly and bit his lip.

  My mouth fell open as reality took a left turn into the surreal. Carson Rafferty was admitting that he cared about me.

  Pinching the back of my hand to prove that I was awake, I gawked at him. “You’re going to have to explain this to me. Admittedly, I think you’re adorable and I have secretly wished that you would stand up to Tamara and knock her into a table of cream pies for me, but we’re not on the same side.”

  His eyebrows rose swiftly. “Who says there are sides? As far as I’m concerned, I’m allowed to like whomever I like. In fact, I want to shout it from the rooftops that Celeste Dreger actually likes me back.”

  I shook my head and waved my hands at him. “Maybe there really is something wrong with the spell; either that or you don’t understand what it means to care about someone.”

  He chuckled and leaned in closer. The heat of his body crashed into me and made me shiver. The smell of his cologne invaded the space around me and made my defenses vanish.

  “Celeste, I didn’t trip you at the Miss Sunshine pageant. I won’t admit this under oath or anything, but the spell wasn’t meant for you. It was meant for Melody Piffler. See, the thing about me is that I’m a terrible wizard. I am not very good in school and I have terrible aim. I cast that spell to get even with Melody, who was spreading rumors about you all week leading up to the pageant. Sadly, I missed and hit you instead. I wanted to apologize, but I was afraid to. I wasn’t ready to talk to you yet. I hadn’t found the courage. It was easier for you to be mad at me than face rejection.” He hung his head and kicked the tile floor with his black polished dress shoes.

  Scratching my itchy neck, I tilted my head. “You said you’re shy around girls yet you were dating Melody. Obviously, you can talk to girls. Furthermore, why would you curse your own girlfriend? I’m confused.” I crossed my arms and glared at him.

  “Ex-girlfriend. For the record, she came on to me and she did enough talking for the both of us. I had broken up with her a week before the pageant for being evil. She was so eager to please Tamara that she was mean to everyone, even me when it suited her needs. All day long, she was calling you names and saying you were fat because you looked devastatingly beautiful in your silver dress. I’d had enough and tried to trip her. I couldn’t stand listening to her disrespect you especially since I was using her to ease my pain over not being with you.”

  My mouth went dry and my heart skipped at the way he said, “not being with you.”

  He reached out and placed his hand on my cheek. His thumb lightly grazed my lips and I forgot where I was for a second.

  Oddly, my survival instincts kicked in and I backed away. I wasn’t fully convinced that he was being truthful.

  “What about the dogface comment when I had short hair?”

  He frowned and shrugged. “I slipped up that day. I called you doll face because you were so adorable with your short hair. With my accent, you must have heard dogface. Honestly, I panicked because I was afraid that you would figure out that I liked you. All day I practiced how to explain why I called you doll face, but you never asked. Celeste, I have spent so much time watching you watching Benjamin Fitzroy that I tried to accept the fact that you would never look at me the way you looked at him. Now, because of this latte, I am free to tell you how smart, sweet, beautiful and amazing you are.”

  I nodded slowly as I tried to accept his explanation and leaned in closer to him.

  “Oh.” I was speechless. He wasn’t the enemy. In fact, he was the only boy who seemed happy to express his feelings for me. “I’m sorry that I misjudged you. I have done nothing but try to hide from the world to protect myself. In doing so, I made assumptions of you. I shouldn’t have done that. Can we start over?”

  A full-blown smile, complete with dimples, filled his face. “I would love that, Celeste.” He reached out to take my hand. “I know it will take time to earn your trust and I accept that.”

  Expecting him to shake my hand, I was shocked when he raised the back of my hand to his lips and kissed it. I let out a surprised giggle and smiled. “Wow.”

  He laughed. “I like the sound you made. It’s good to hear you giggle.”

  My eyes went wide when I felt the salad dressing chafe against my back. “As much as I like standing here with you, I’m really gross. Can we talk some more after I’ve had a few hundred showers?”

  “Yes, I was wondering why you were leaking oil and vinegar onto the floor. I thought you were auditioning for the Miss Vegetarian Pageant. I would have voted for you. I like your commitment to the cause. Can I ask why you smell like vinaigrette? For the record, it’s my favorite salad dressing and you look cute in it.” He pulled a limp piece of hair out of my face and winked.

  Laughing, I shook my head at him. “And you think you can’t woo girls.”

  His smile left his face and his eyes were serious again. “I’ve only ever tried to woo you. Thank God I had some help from this spell because I am as bad at wooing as I am at tripping the correct person.”

  I shrugged. “I think you’re improving.”

  ≈

  Escaping from the meeting hall without being seen by any of my mother’s friends, I took a deep breath. I wasn’t ready to deal with the fallout from my speech just yet. I preferred to do so with clean hair and clothing. Carson refused to let me run off by myself.

  I tried my best to explain my descent into madness and my reasons for changing the rules of the competition and the charity collection.

  “I would have given anything to see the faces of those harpies as you opened up the competition to all the girls. I always thought that excluding people was stupid. Maybe everyone will vote for the right person this time instead of bowing to the pressure to elect Tamara.”

  “That would be nice. Honestly, part of me broke the rules because I wanted revenge against people like Tamara, but really, I want someone nice to win this year.

  He reached over and slipped his hand into mine as he glanced at me from the corner of his eye.

  I looked down at our hands with a questioning look. “Are we at the hand holding stage already?”

  He winked at me. “What? Friends can hold hands.”

  I pushed my fingers through his, intertwining them. “I guess so.” His warm hand pressed against mine, making my heart leap. Maybe I was being too hard on Carson. Though it was mean of him to trip my competition, he had done it to keep her from making fun of me.

  He smiled at me and let out a little sigh. “Pumpkin Spice Lattes are my new favorite drink.”

  I laughed until I remembered Benjamin. Tucking my hair behind my ear, I pulled my hand away from him. “About the spell, I want to be honest about what’s going on.”

  He shook his head. “Let me guess, Benjamin is also connected to you. I assumed he would be.”

  “Yes, but he doesn’t like me like that. There might be a flaw in the spell.”

  Carson stopped in the middle of the walkway, forcing people to jump around us. “What? That’s ridiculous. There is no possible way that Benjamin Fitzroy doesn’t have the hots for you. I often envisioned challenging him to a magic duel so that I could ask you out. Granted, he would have wiped the platform with me, but I would have given it my all.”

  I shrugged. “He told me to stay away from him until the glow fades so that my mother doesn’t see it. He said that we’re just friends.”

  “Rubbish! There’
s no way. I’m perfectly fine with you liking Benjamin as long as I don’t have to duel him, but I will not believe that he doesn’t like you. He is a liar and a coward for not telling you how he feels.” He crossed his arms and tapped his foot. “I feel like I need to run over to his house and call him out. I can see that you’re upset, which now makes me want to duel him. I’m so conflicted.”

  I laughed at the absurdity of Carson’s statement. I threw my arms around him and hugged him without thinking. “Thank you for wanting to fight him and not wanting to fight him.”

  He slowly put his arms around me and held me. His eyes grew dark and serious. “I never want to see you sad, Celeste. I would do anything to brighten your day.”

  Frowning, I pulled my arms away. “That’s going to be tough. I’m trying to change my destiny so that I feel more in control, though things aren’t exactly going according to plan. Now that I’ve pissed off the YWWA and the hosting associations, I’m going to be more of a pariah.”

  He nodded thoughtfully. “All right then. Despite being a terrible wizard, I will do what I can to watch your back. However, we will need a little help.”

  He pulled me along the street until we reached the Silver Springs Public Library aka SPELL.

  Entering into the library, I smiled. “You and I think alike. I was headed here when I was nearly run over yesterday. I need some spell books so that someone could set up protection spells for me.”

  He smiled and held out his arm so we could head to the back of the first floor. Walking past the normal human books, we entered the stacks that held the spell books. He pointed to a few spells that would help keep me safe, but I wasn’t excited until I found an advanced spell book.

  Reading over my shoulder, he frowned. “Celeste, I told you. I’m not great with magic. Most people could have done worse to Tamara than use a flashlight spell. I only know that spell so that I can find my way to the bathroom at night.”

  I patted his hand. “These spells might not be easy, but I know I can teach them to you.”

  He glanced at me from the corner of his eye. “Really? Can you teach me?”

  I was relieved to hear that he wasn’t mocking me or questioning my teaching skills. He was questioning whether he could learn to do the spells.

  “I hope so.”

  Carson called for his parent’s driver while I checked out my book. When we reached my house, he walked me to my door.

  “Can we see each other tomorrow?” Hearing how unsure he was reminded me that he was shy around girls.

  “Well, tomorrow is the Pike charity match, so I’m assuming that you have to be there.”

  He made a frustrated sound in the back of his throat. “I’m terrible at Pike. I don’t know why I agreed to play.”

  I took his hands in mine and looked up at him. “I’ll be there cheering you on. I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

  A smile spread across his face. “I like the idea of you cheering for me.”

  “Then I’ll cheer extra loud.”

  He kissed my cheek and slowly walked backwards to his car, waving as he left.

  I sighed as I watched him pull out of the driveway. Maybe the love spell wasn’t broken. Maybe I just needed to believe in it.

  My eyes turned to the Fitzroy house. One way or another, I had to finally let Benjamin go.

  Chapter 5

  Sitting in front of the YWWA chair heads later that afternoon, Mrs. Hazelton wore the exact same expression as her daughter. Neither one were happy about my modifications to the charity event or the pageant competition rules. My mother, surprisingly, was sitting next to me, locked in a staring contest with Mrs. Hazelton. Neither one was giving in. They had been like that for the last five minutes as Mrs. Jubley reviewed the contest rules.

  “Well, Pearl, nothing states that there can only be a specific number of participants in the pageant and while there is a nomination process, it doesn’t state that each person has to be nominated by different people. So, technically, you could nominate any girl, conjurer or caster, between the age of 15 and 17, just as your mother is suggesting. We may have to address the rules for next year, but at this time, there is nothing wrong with what you did. However, we are still unhappy that you didn’t discuss this with the association or the society. Furthermore, your decision to request donated presents for the orphanage falls in line with previous requests a few years back, so again, there is nothing wrong with it, but we would have liked to have been consulted. Since the orphanage has learned of the extra donations, they are excited to be receiving the physical gifts. I hear that the children are looking forward to them. In that respect, I applaud your efforts, though in the future, please discuss such matters with us first.” Mrs. Jubley looked up from the rulebook and nodded at me.

  I let out a long breath and nodded. “Thank you. Again, I apologize for forgoing the procedures, but standing in front of everyone, I just felt that we could show our support for the charity in other ways. In the future, I will consult with the association and the society first.” I repeated the exact wording that my mother had insisted upon and sat contritely in my chair. Take that 3rd grade me!

  The chair heads spoke softly to each other as my mother continued her showdown. They finally knocked the gavel and released me from the inquisition. Taking a deep breath, I relaxed my shoulders. I would live to see another pageant.

  “Come, Pearl, we have your dress fitting.” My mother was out of her seat so fast it nearly tipped over.

  I raced after her until we reached the dress shop and were out of hearing range of anyone important.

  “I am sorry, Mother. I shouldn’t have embarrassed you like that.” Ever since my mother had returned home from the luncheon, she had been oddly quiet about my revised speech. Aside from informing me that the YWWA was upset with me and wanted to review the rules, she hadn’t said much about my prepared speech. I couldn’t tell how mad she was at me, but I assumed it was on the level of “epically furious” since she hadn’t spoken about it. She was saving up her anger for one big blow out.

  She finally turned to me and smiled. “Pearl, you turned them on their ear. You used that speech to challenge their established rules and their preconceived notions of what a charity organization is. In truth, I couldn’t be more proud of you right now. You did exactly what I had hoped you would do. You made them think about something other than themselves. You put a stop to their antiquated pageant, designed to make only a few feel important. You showed that you weren’t afraid to make positive changes in our sometimes stifling world. And to top it off, you knocked Mrs. Hazelton off her high horse. That was merely a bonus as far as I’m concerned. You are showing them that a leader isn’t afraid to do the right thing, even when others aren’t comfortable with change.”

  Dazed, I stared at her, not understanding her words. Was she actually praising me?

  “I’m confused. I thought you were mad.” My mouth hung open until she pushed it closed with her finger.

  “I admit that I was taken by surprise by your impromptu changes. I was worried about the outcome of that meeting, but I was never mad at you. I feared that they would find a way to revoke your membership or punish you in some way, but we used the right argument to silence them. I’m relieved that they acquiesced to our argument and that Mrs. Hazelton kept her mouth shut. Then again, she would be a fool to argue that the pageant should remain rigged in favor of her snotty daughter.” She rolled her eyes dramatically as she waved her hand to emphasize her disdain for Tamara.

  I rocked back on my heels, unsure if I would burst out laughing or start crying. My mother, for once, was on my side. I finally broke into laughter and hugged her.

  She was startled by my reaction, but hugged me back.

  “Thank you for standing by my side.” I was a little choked up thinking about my mother’s reason for her standoff with Mrs. Hazelton.

  Frowning, she tilted her head. “I know you believe I am hard on you, but I am always on your side, Pearl. It makes me happy to see
you act kindly towards others. I know how others see you and it frustrates me. They only care that you can’t do magic. They don’t see what a wonderful person you are. Trust me, all day I hear snide comments about you and I go home to cry. I don’t cry because I’m upset with you. I cry because our world is so critical of those who are different. They miss the beauty around them. I want them to see you for who you are.”

  Again, I was completely blown away by her candor. “I thought you didn’t know about the bullying.”

  “Pearl, I have ears and eyes. I see how sad and quiet you are. I don’t discuss it with you because I don’t want to upset you. Instead, I try to focus on the things you can do to shine and stand out. Your magic will come, eventually, but right now, you must show them your value in other ways.” She wiped the tear forming in the corner of my eye. “Now, pull yourself together. We don’t need tears of sadness on your dress. Tears of joy will be fine when you win.”

  She winked at me and quickly ducked into the store.

  I took a second to let the joy slowly filter through my body. My mother believed in me. I had a hard time accepting it, but it definitely changed the way I saw her and interpreted all the things she said to me.

  Raising my chin, I walked into the store to try on my dress.

  ≈

  After breakfast, Andrew helped me look for my blue and gold sweater to support the casting team in the Pike charity game.

  “I know it’s in here somewhere, Celeste. Maybe Maria put it in the wash. You did bring home a lot of laundry from school. I know the sweater went with you to school. It fit into the parameters of no skirts, nothing sheer and no designer labels, so I’m sure you had it.” He snickered at my down to earth clothing choices for school.

  “There, I’m not the rich kid, Andrew. I’m the weirdo who studies. I don’t want to stand out any more than I already do. I avoid people. That is my objective.”